To Kill A Mockingbird
by Nara-chan25
Summary: Sometimes life is difficult. Sometimes it's not. For Naruto, it's both. Things are good when he has his best friend and father with him. But things change when something unthinkable happens. Things that change everyone. No pairings yet. Please review.


To Kill a Mockingbird

A/N: I don't own Naruto or the title of the story. I just read that in English class and I just thought it would be a good title for my story. In this story Orochimaru never left the village. Sarutobi is alive, just retired. Orochimaru became the Yondaime Hokage and he was the one who sealed the Kyuubi into Naruto. Minato decided that instead of becoming Hokage after Orochimaru he would stay a Jounin so it would be easier to take care of his son, who is still hated by the villagers. Tsunade is the Godaime Hokage. Obito, Rin, and Kakashi are all Jounin now, too. Yay, Obito! Also, Naruto is 12. That's about it. I hope that makes sense to everyone. Read and Review!

Chapter One

A New Team 7 is Born!

Naruto slowly opened his eyes. He slowly looked at the alarm clock on his bedside table. He glared at it, hoping that it would stop making annoying sounds when he was trying to sleep. He realized that glaring wouldn't help so he groaned and hit the snooze button so he could go back to sleep.

Minato sighed from his room. He could hear Naruto's alarm clock and it always woke him up. He knew Naruto was not a morning person, just like his mother. He sighed again and got up, heading towards Naruto's room to wake him up and make sure he stayed up. He didn't bother knocking and just walked in. He grabbed Naruto's legs, dragged him out of bed, and hung him up-side-down. That instantly woke Naruto up. "Ah! 'Tou-san!" Naruto yelled.

Minato laughed and gently put down his son. "Sorry, Chibi, but that's the only way to wake you up," he said innocently.

"I'm not a chibi!" Naruto yelled. "Why do you always have to call me that!?" Naruto demanded, pointing at his father.

"Aw, I'm only kidding. You know I love you," Minato said.

Naruto suddenly hugged his father, surprising him. Minato hugged him back, a little bit confused. Naruto only hugged him when he got back from missions or something really bad happened to him. He didn't just get back from a mission so something was wrong. "What's wrong?" Minato asked his son.

"What if I'm not on the same team as Sasuke?" Naruto asked quietly. "He's the only one who doesn't hate me in the whole class."

Minato smiled. "You'll figure something out if you're not," he said, pulling out of the hug. "You better get going so you won't be late."

Naruto smiled and nodded. He stood up and into the bathroom so he could get ready.

When Naruto was finally ready to leave, he left. He got to the Academy and he went into his classroom. When he walked into his class room he realized that there were only three other people in the room, Hinata, Shino, and Sasuke, all sitting in different areas. Naruto smiled and went to go sit next to Sasuke. When Sasuke heard him coming he turned around, smiled, and waved. Naruto sat down beside him. "Hey, Naruto," said Sasuke.

"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto said, glancing around the room.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked, noticing what his friend was doing right away.

Naruto continued to look around the room nervously. "Well, everyone hates me but you. It's just, with so many people in our class what are the chances of us actually getting on the same team?" Naruto asked, finally looking at his friend next to him.

Sasuke answered without hesitation. "Well, we can make a bet on it. You never lose bets," Sasuke pointed out, remembering the time when they were younger when Naruto won all his money from him playing poker.

Naruto smiled and agreed. Naruto bet 10 dollars that he out be on a team with Sasuke and one of Sasuke's fan girls. Sasuke bet 10 bucks that Naruto would be on a team with Hinata and Shino, since they were the only other kids in the room at the time, and Sasuke didn't really bother to remember most of the kids names anyway.

After a few minutes of waiting for everyone all of the other students showed up. Once everyone was seated Iruka started to tell everyone what teams everyone was going to be placed into. "In Team 1… In Team 7 is Namikaze Naruto…"

Naruto looked up, even more nervous, as everyone crossed their fingers in hopes that they wouldn't be on the same team as him. "…Haruno Sakura…"

Sakura slammed her head off the desk, disappointed In being on the same team as Naruto as all the other girls laughed at her misfortune.

"… and Uchiha Sasuke," Iruka finished.

Sakura jumped into the air. "Yeah, I'm on the same team as Sasuke! Take that Ino-pig!" she yelled, sticking her tongue out at the other girls.

Sasuke smiled, glad that he was going to be on the same team as Naruto. He knew that if he wasn't Naruto would probably go into depression, again, if his teammates were the kind of people to degrade him.

Naruto sighed in relief. Then he jumped to his feet and cheered. "I won!" he yelled. Sasuke dragged him down before anyone could tell him to shut up and that no one cares which would just make the blonde depressed, even though he would try to hide it.

Iruka finished telling everyone what team they were in. Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji were going to be in a team and Hinata, Shino, and Kiba were going to be a team. Iruka dismissed them, telling them to be back after lunch, so Naruto and Sasuke left for lunch. They were walking, side-by-side, when Sakura, the other girl on their team, ran up to them and pushed Naruto aside so she could stand next to Sasuke. "Hi, Sasuke-kun," she said, blushing. "I was wondering, since we're on the same team and all, that we could eat lunch together."

"That's a great idea," Sasuke replied. Sakura smiled and Naruto frowned. "Where should we eat?"

"Um… how about at this one new restaurant. It's really nice and it doesn't cost that much," Sakura suggested.

"Good idea," said Sasuke. "Lead the way."

Sakura nodded and started to head towards the restaurant. Sasuke followed, and then stopped. He turned around to talk to his friend. "Aren't you coming, Naruto?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto smiled and ran to catch up to the two. Sakura's eyes twitched. "_He's_ coming?" she asked, obviously not wanting Naruto to come with them.

"The last time I checked he's on the team, too," Sasuke replied, inwardly smirking at his evil plan.

Sakura sighed and continued walking, Sasuke and Naruto behind her. "She seems disappointed," Naruto whispered to Sasuke.

Sasuke nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I know. Even though I don't like her that much we're still on the same team so we should get to know each other better," Sasuke explained.

The three of them finally got to the restaurant. Sakura entered first, but when Naruto tried to go in after her a man stepped in the way. "Where do you think you're going, demon?" the man asked. Naruto looked up at and frowned. "Demons aren't aloud in here," the man said.

"Then why are you in here?" Sasuke asked.

The man looked at Sasuke. "I'm no demon, Uchiha," the man spat. "You should know by now that someone with your blood shouldn't be around scum like this."

"First, my friend isn't scum. If he were, he'd look like you," said Sasuke. The man growled. "And he's my teammate, starting today. So, since we're on the same team, if he's not aloud in that restaurant, neither am I."

"Yeah," said Sakura, who had walked out of the restaurant when she noticed that Naruto and Sasuke weren't behind her. "I'll admit it, I don't really like Naruto myself but he's my teammate now, and teammates stick together."

Naruto smiled, looking at Sasuke and Sakura. Sasuke smiled, too. "Let's go, guys. I hate scum," said Sasuke.

They turned around to leave but ran into someone. "Are you Sasuke and Sakura?" the man asked. Sasuke and Sakura nodded, wondering how this guy, who they didn't know, new their names. "I thought so. Well, I was just about to go into this restaurant, but I, too, don't like scum. Come on, you three. I'll buy you ramen," said the man. He pointed to the man that wouldn't let Naruto inside. "If I see you causing trouble again…" he let it hang.

They started walking away. "You didn't have to do that, Kashi-jii-san," said Naruto, looking up at him.

"Sure I did. I _am_ your new sensei," said 'Kashi'. Naruto was surprised, then he smiled in joy.

"You're our sensei?" asked Sasuke. 'Kashi' nodded. "What kind of name is Kashi?"

"My name is _Ka_kashi. Only Naru-kun calls my Kashi-jii-san," said Kakashi.

"KAKASHI!!" someone screamed from behind them.

Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto all turned around to see who was calling Kakashi. A man wearing a black jacket lined with orange, black pants lined in orange, and a Jounin vest ran up to them. "Hey, Sasuke and Naruto," the man said. "Kakashi, I have to tell you something."

"You know Obito?" Naruto and Sasuke asked each other at the same time.

They paused. "I know Kashi-jii-san so I know Obito. They're teammates," said Naruto."

Sasuke nodded. "Obito is my cousin."

Kakashi shook his head and followed Obito so he could tell him whatever it was that he needed to tell him.

"So…" said Sakura after a few moments of silence.

"Aw, man," said Sasuke, sighing. "That took so long that we don't have time to go out for lunch."

Sakura shrugged and led the way back to the Academy. Sasuke followed her. Naruto paused to look at a man in an alley way who was glaring at him. Sasuke called to him to hurry up so Naruto looked away. When he looked back the man was gone and there was a note on the ground. When Sasuke realized that Naruto still wasn't coming he went to see if his friend was okay, Sakura close behind him. "What's wrong?" Sasuke asked, looking at where Naruto was looking.

"I saw someone there, but when I looked away and looked back he was gone. I think he left a note," Naruto explained, looking and pointing at the place where the note was left.

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other. Then Sasuke shrugged and walked towards the note the man left, picking it up and looking at it. After he read it his eyes went wide. "What does it say?" Naruto asked, worried and a little scared.

Sasuke quickly stuffed the note into his pocket. "It's nothing important," Sasuke quickly replied. "Um… Why don't you guys go ahead without me, okay? I have to go talk to… Itachi," said Sasuke.

Even though Naruto and Sakura didn't believe Sasuke, they went ahead without him anyway.

Sasuke quickly headed towards the training grounds that he knew his brother was in, which wasn't that far away. When he got there his brother stopped what he was doing to see what Sasuke wanted. "What is it, Sasuke?" Itachi asked.

"Well," Sasuke started. He told Itachi what happened a few minutes ago. "Here's the note the man left," Sasuke said, handing Itachi the note.

_To: Demon_

_You don't know who I am, but I've been watching you. I've been hunting you. I'm going to get and kill you, and this time your pathetic father and Uchiha Itachi won't get in the way. I can't wait until I hear your screams of pain._

_Love,_

_You're friend…_

"Someone has no life," Itachi muttered so Sasuke couldn't hear him. "Thank you for showing me this, Sasuke. I'll watch over you guys until you go off with your Sensei. Then I'll tell Hokage-sama and Minato-san about this."

Sasuke nodded and ran to the Academy. He ended up being late, so Iruka yelled at him.

Kakashi was the last one to arrive so they had to wait. Naruto decided to ask Sasuke what the note was about. "Don't worry, I took care of it," was all Sasuke would say before changing the subject. "Why is Kakashi-sensei late?"

"He went off with Obito, remember?" Naruto told him. "Obito always makes Kashi-jii-san late."

"Is Kakashi-sensei really your uncle?" Sakura asked. "If he is, I don't think that's really fair, he'll teach you more."

"He's not really my uncle, but I've known him for as long as I could remember. If he was my uncle he wouldn't be unfair anyway," Naruto told her.

After about 10 minutes of talking Kakashi finally showed up and told them to meet him on the roof.

"Okay, I want you guys to tell me your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams for the future," said Kakashi. "I'll go first. I am Kakashi, as you already know. My likes are training with Minato, Obito, and Rin. I also like training, Obito, Rin, Minato, and, of course, Naruto." Naruto smiled. "Oh, and Itachi, I guess. My dislikes are people with blonde hair and blue eyes, orange, ramen, and people with whiskers."

"KASHI!!" Naruto yelled.

"I'm just kidding, you know that," said Kakashi. "Anyway, my hobbies are training and reading. And I don't really have any dreams. Okay, you next," Kakashi said, pointing at Sakura.

"I'm Haruno Sakura. I like Sasuke and… flowers! I dislike Ino-pig and Naruto!" Naruto frowned. "My hobbies are… well… My dream…"

"Okay, then… You go next." Kakashi pointed at Sasuke.

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke. I like training with Itachi and Naruto. I also like hanging out with Naruto. I dislike people who treat my best friend badly for no reason. I also dislike orange." Sasuke smirked as Naruto pouted. "My hobbies are training and running away from fan girls. My dreams for the future…" Sasuke paused to think, but then they realized he wasn't going to answer.

"Okay, Naruto, you last," said Kakashi.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen, orange, and training with Sasuke, Kashi-jii-san, and 'Tou-san. I dislike…" Naruto put his hand on his stomach. He didn't say anything else, but he looked like he wasn't even there anymore, he was so deep in thought.

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Hm?" Naruto looked up at Sasuke. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

Sasuke didn't look convinced. "Are you feeling okay?" Before Naruto could answer Sasuke took off his Hitai-ate and felt his forehead.

Naruto suddenly stood up. "Naruto?" Sasuke asked again. Kakashi stood up, too. He looked at Naruto and knew something was wrong. He jumped away, making sure his team stay were they were.

"Let's go see the Hokage," Sasuke suggested.

Naruto didn't say anything. Sasuke looked at him and tried to get him to come with him but he wouldn't move. Sakura was starting to get afraid when Minato showed up. "Naruto, are you okay?" Minato asked. Naruto didn't answer. He tried to get his son to talk to him but he wouldn't say anything. After a few minutes Kakashi, Rin, Obito, Itachi, Sarutobi, Tsunade, and Jiriaya showed up.

"What's going on?" Tsunade demanded. Minato just shook his head.

"He won't say anything," Minato told her.

"Sasuke," said Itachi. "I want you to take your teammate home."

"She can take herself home, I'm not leaving," Sasuke replied.

Sakura looked at Sasuke and noticed that he was really worried about Naruto. Before Itachi, or anyone else, could tell him to leave again she spoke. "It's okay, Uchiha-san," she said. "I can go by myself."

"I'll go," said Rin.

"Naruto, come on, talk to me," said Minato, not even hearing what was going on around him.

Naruto looked at his father, like he just noticed he was there. Then he spoke. What he said scared everyone there, for it was the one thing that they hoped they would never hear. It was the one thing that everyone in the village had nightmares of hearing.

"The seal is breaking," Naruto whispered.

Everyone was shocked; they didn't know what to say. Was it true? Was the Kyuubi getting out of its seal? "W-what?" said Sarutobi. He knew that if the Kyuubi got free that five things would happen. 1st, Naruto would die not only trying to hold in the Kyuubi, but by the effects of all the Kyuubi's chakra going thought him at once. 2nd, many ninja would die trying to protect the village. 3rd, he would loose another student, maybe both. 4th, another child would be forced to carry the Kyuubi, to be hated among the village like Naruto had. And 5th, if the child didn't turn out as strong as Naruto the child could end up trying to kill off everyone who angered them like a child he heard about in Suna.

Tsunade took a deep breathe and got ready to do her job. "Jiriaya, I want you to get as many seal experts as you can and get them to my office. Kakashi, Rin, and Obito will make sure that Naruto gets to my office without any trouble at all. Anything can make things even harder for him. Itachi, you go get Yamato, just in case something goes wrong. Everyone, GO!" Tsunade yelled. Everyone jumped away.

Tsunade started to walk towards her office, only to be stopped by Sasuke. "I'm going, too," he said.

"You'd only get in the way," she said.

Sasuke shook his head. "Ever since Naruto told my about _it_ I've been doing my research."

"With Jiriaya?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes."

"You little pervert."

Sasuke stared at her. "Not that kind of research, sealing stuff."

"I was just kidding, let's go!" Tsunade said, leading the way to the office.

When they both got there Jiriaya was there telling some ANBU about what was going on. Kakashi, Obito, and Rin where all of to the side, making sure not to get in the way of everyone who was there to help fix Naruto's seal. Itachi was leaning against the far wall, Sharingan active, watching everything going on. Yamato was next to him, but not leaning against the wall. Hiashi, the head of the Hyuuga clan, was also there. Someone must have run into him and thought it was wise to bring him along to look at Naruto's chakra. Sasuke noticed that that was probably the reason he was there because he was looking at Naruto. Naruto was lying on the couch, his head on his fathers lap. Minato was making sure that Naruto was completely calm.

Sasuke, seeing that Minato probably needed to help with the sealing, walked over to them. "Naruto?" he asked. His friend looked to see who was talking to him. Naruto sat up, as if to make room for Sasuke to sit next to him. Sasuke did sit down. He pulled Naruto into an awkward hug. Naruto wasn't that surprised, since Sasuke _did_ know how to convert people if he needed to. Minato nodded in thanks and got up to talk to Jiriaya.

"Sasuke," Naruto started, "What if I ca—"

Sasuke interrupted. "I'll take you for ramen after we finish this, okay?"

Naruto smiled and nodded.

"Naruto," Minato called. Naruto looked at his father. "I need you to take of your shirt so we can look at the seal and lay down on Tsunade's desk, okay?"

Naruto nodded and did what his father told him. Jiriaya, Minato, and some of the ANBU started to point and say things about the seal that Sasuke didn't really understand. After a few minutes Minato spoke. "Okay, son, this is what we're going to do. We're just going to add another seal to the one you already have. Hopefully this will make the seal stronger."

"And if it doesn't?" Naruto asked. Minato just shook his head and shrugged. Naruto looked panicked. "What if something happens?"

"Yamato is here if it does go wrong," said Jiriaya.

Minato nodded in agreement and was about to start making the seal when Naruto pushed him as far away as he could lying down. "Naru—"

"No, you can't!" he yelled. "You don't know for sure if this will work! I can hold it off long enough for you to find something that will!"

"Naruto, we have to do this now," Minato said calmly.

"No you—"

"Take him," Minato said.

"What?" Naruto asked. He was surprised then one of the ANBU picked him up and swung him over his shoulder. Naruto punched his back and tried to kick him. "Dad!" he yelled, "Sasuke!?" He punched the ANBU harder. "I won't forgive you for this!" he cried as he and ANBU left.

"What are you doing!?" I demanded.

Minato looked at the floor. "If he doesn't let us do this we have to do it by force, for the village."

About an hour later Sasuke, along with Kakashi and Sakura, were aloud to see Naruto. Minato was waiting with them, since Tsunade was working on him at the moment and there was really nothing he could do.

They walked into the room to see Naruto lay on his bed, strapped down, and his legs hanging off the side because it was more of a table then a bed. Naruto looked up at them and glared at his father.

"Naruto…" Minato said, looked guilty and a little sad.

"Don't _ever_ do that again!" Naruto cried. "Promise me!"

"Naruto, this had to be done. If I didn't tell the ANBU to take you Tsunade would have and there would be nothing I could do about it," Minato pointed out.

"There was no way to tell if that seal would have worked!" Naruto yelled. "All it did was make sure that the seal wouldn't break any more then it already did!" Naruto's eyes flashed red so Kakashi took Sakura out of the room.

"Naruto—"

"No!" he yelled. "I told you that I'll never forgive you, get out!"

"But, Naruto—"

"OUT!"

Minato looked at the ground, turned around and left. As soon as he did Naruto started crying. Sasuke ran to him, put an arm under his neck, and awkwardly hugged him.

Naruto continued to cry when Sasuke felt a pain in his back. He gasped and coughed up some blood, causing Naruto's eyes to go wide. Sasuke was pulled away by whoever hurt him and he landed in the ground, kunai in his back. "Sas—" Naruto tried to yell. He got interrupted when the man who stabbed Sasuke quickly gagged him. Naruto's eyes went wider as he realized that the man in the room was the man he say in the alley way.

The man quickly tied Naruto up before removing the straps that held him to the table.

Sasuke tried to call for help but just kept on coughing up blood. The last thing he saw before his world went black was the man leaving, with Naruto, through the window in the room.

Itachi walked by Kakashi, Sakura, and Minato on the way to Naruto's room. Sakura looked confused, Kakashi looked emotionless, and Minato looked depressed.

Without worrying too much about the three of them he continued to walk towards Naruto's room. He had to walk up a flight of stairs before he could go into Naruto's room. When he did his usually emotionless eyes when wide in surprise.

Minato sighed again. He didn't know what to do. Naruto's never been mad enough to tell him to get away from him before.

Kakashi stopped walking and turned back to his sensei. Sakura stopped walking too but noticed that what Kakashi had to say was none of her business and left.

"Sensei," Kakashi started, "I'm sure Naruto will forgive you when he realizes that what you did was for the good of the village."

Minato looked up at Kakashi. He noticed that he was right and smiled. "Thanks—"

"MEDIC!!" the heard someone yelled. After a moment they realized that the voice sounded like Itachi's. When they did they ran to Naruto's room as fast as they could. When they got close to the door they saw Tsunade run into the room.

"GET ME ANBU!" she yelled once she got in the room.

Minato became even more worried and ran into the room. He eyes went wide when he saw Sasuke on the floor in a puddle of blood. He gasped when he noticed that Naruto was gone and the window was open. "Naruto!" he yelled. He quickly jumped out of the window, followed by Kakashi and Itachi, when he was told Sasuke would be fine.

They split up and looked for Naruto. They noticed a while later that the ANBU were also looking for Naruto. After jumping from roof to roof for about an hour they decided that they would have to go door to door to look for Naruto inside people's houses. They also made sure to go in groups of three incase some ANBU could care less about Naruto

Days went by and no one found Naruto. Almost all ANBU, Jounin, and Chuunin were looking for Naruto, Tsunade mad sure of it. Hiashi made sure that every Hyuuga that could use Byakugan (almost everyone) were looking for the missing blonde, even if they weren't a ninja, because he was a friend of Minato. Fugako (sp?) also made sure that everyone in his clan that had the Sharingan was looking for Naruto because of the relationship between his sons and the boy and the respect he had for Minato and his wives respect for Naruto. Even though they were trying their hardest, looking everywhere they could think of inside, and outside, the village, they couldn't fine him.

They sent word to sand to see in the Kazekage would help them. It turned out that he was doing the same thing. His son was also missing, meaning that whoever took Naruto must have taken Gaara as well because of their 'situation'. It also means that whoever was behind this must be strong.

A month later and both Konoha and Suna could only send out a few of their ninja because they didn't want to run out of money.

Sasuke sighed as he, Sakura, and Kakashi headed towards the Hokage tower. Even though Naruto was missing Kakashi decided to pass the team seeing how they stood up for each other the day they tried to go into a restaurant. They had been doing D-rank after D-rank. Both Sakura and Sasuke were getting annoying by these boring missions.

Sasuke sighed again and looked up at the sky. He was worried about his friend, but there was nothing he could do. He knew that if he was still with them that they probably wouldn't be having as many D-rank missions and would have probably gotten a C-rank by now. He would have played poker or something with Tsunade and would let her get away without pay him the money if she gave them a C-rank mission.

Sakura looked at her teammate. "Sasuke?" she asked, "Are you okay?"

"Is Naruto okay?!" he snapped.

Sakura tried to hold back the tears and looked at the ground. Sasuke sighed again. "I'm sorry… it's just…"

Sakura sniffed and nodded her head. "I miss him, too."

Sasuke didn't reply as they walked into the Hokage tower. They went straight to the mission assignment room to get another D-rank mission. Or so they though. "I think it's time that my team got a C-rank mission," said Kakashi, not looking up from his perverted book.

"Kakashi," said Tsunade. "You need another team member if you want to go on a C-rank mission."

"I'll go," said Obito, who was sitting in a window. "I don't have a mission to do."

"Well… I guess that would be okay," said Tsunade. She nodded to herself and picked up a folder, handing it to Kakashi. "You're mission is to take a bridge builder to his bridge, then guard him until the bridge is complete." Tsunade nodded to a Chuunin in the corner of the room. The Chuunin left the room. When he came back he had an old man with him.

"What?" the man said, a little confused. "How are these to brat supposed to protect me?"

"Don't worry. Obito, my teammate, and I will be going. I'm a Jounin," said Kakashi.

"So am I," said Obito, pointing at himself proudly.

"Anyway," said Tsunade, making sure that the useless conversation didn't continue. "This is Tazuna, the bridge builder. Get ready and be at the bridge in an hour," she said. She looked at Obito. "That means _all_ of you, Obito."

Obito was about to say something when he fell out of the window when a book _magically_ appeared in Tsunade's hand, and then _magically_ hit him in the face.

Outside the Hokage tower Obito picked himself up, pouted, and headed towards the Uchiha estates to get really. Hopefully, his mother wouldn't need his help with anything.

Tsunade dismissed Team 7 and they all left without a word. Tsunade sighed and looked down at her paper work. There was nothing else she could do to find Naruto so she would do her best to be a good Hokage, even though being a good Hokage meant paper work.

Two Months Before Team 7 Meets Tazuna

Naruto slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He realized he was in a room that was completely empty except for the table he lay on and the tables other were on. He tried to sit up but he was strapped to the table. He turned his head to look at the other people in the room, to see if he knew any of them. He didn't. He looked at the boy on the table beside him. "Hey," he said. "You, there. Kid with eyeliner." The boy didn't open his eyes. "Hey!" Naruto yelled.

"Don't bother," said a girl. Naruto raised his head a little to see that the girl next to the boy with eyeliner. "That kid hasn't said a word since he got here. By the way, I'm Tori."

"I'm Naruto," Naruto replied. "Where are we?" he asked.

"I dunno," said Tori. "They won't tell us."

"Why are we on tables?" Naruto asked, trying not to panic.

"They but us here to sleep, though no one barely does," said Tori. "What happens tomorrow is too horrible."

"What?" Naruto asked, voice full of fear.

"Not now. Go too sleep. We only come here once a week."

"Then why are you up. I didn't wake you, did I?"

"No, I don't sleep. But you do, not sleep," she ordered.

Naruto decided to listen since he didn't know what was going to happen. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep. When he finally did fall asleep the boy with eyeliner opened his eyes and looked at the boy next to him. Without saying a word he closed his eyes again.

Tori closed her eyes and tried to hold in tears. She couldn't stand it when another person was brought to this place. She really couldn't stand it if that person was confused and scared because she remembers how she used to be when she first came here. She heard some of the men talking about Naruto and knew that he was the vessel of Kyuubi. She knew that Naruto wouldn't be that hard to break because there were already cracks in him and very few were glued back together. She could only hope that his father, the Yellow Flash, could fine him before that happened.

At Konoha's Gate

Team 7, Kakashi, and Tazuna waited at the gates of Konoha. Right before Sakura was about to complain Obito ran up to the group. "Sorry," he panted. "My mother wanted me to go to the store for her so I ran as fast as I could. But, the store I went to didn't have everything she wanted so I had to go to more then one store. Then, when I was walking home, I was attacked by some bandits and ran away. But then I remembered that I was a ninja and had to fight them," Obito explained.

"Um… okay," said Kakashi. "Let's go."

On the way to the village they ran into two Chuunin level ninja. Obito and Kakashi fought them without trouble at all. Soon after Tazuna explained his story to them. His village was very poor, because of a man named Gato. If he can make the bridge, that wouldn't be poor anymore. Since Gato didn't want that to happen he sent ninja after him. And, because the village didn't have much money, they could only pay for a C-rank mission. After a few minutes of Obito whining Team 7 continued the mission.

A while later they were attacked by Momochi Zabuza. Once again, Obito and Kakashi beat him without trouble, because of their great team work and skills. They didn't kill Zabuza, however, because a Hunter Nin finished him off and carried him away.

When they got to Tazuna's house they got a good dinner. While eating dinner a small boy going by the name Inari came down to talk some 'sense' into the young ninja.

"I don't know why you even bother, Gato will kill you," Inari said.

"Inari!" Tsunami, Inari's mother, yelled. "You say sorry right now!"

"No! I'm telling them the truth! They're just going to get themselves killed!" Inari yelled back.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You have no idea what you're talking about kid," he said.

"You don't know anything! Nothing has gone wrong in your live! You don't know anything about the people who live here! You don't know what it's like to loose someone, like the people here do!" Inari yelled, tears running down his face.

Sasuke stood up, knocking his chair down as he did. Kakashi's and Obito's eyes went wide, seeing the Sharingan in his eyes. Sasuke walked over to Inari and picked him up by the front of his shirt. "You don't know anything!" he yelled. "Right now, my best friend is lost out there! I could have saved him, but I couldn't! For all I know, he could be dead! Because of what he is he could be getting tortured for all I know and no one can save him. It may be one thing to lose someone you love but it's even worse when someone you love could still be alive! To know that I could be looking for him now!" Sasuke was crying now, finally realizing how much trouble his friend could really be in.

Sasuke let Inari go, leaving the house and walking into the forest. 'I promise you, Naruto,' Sasuke thought. He walked deep into the forest, not really knowing or caring where he was going.

After walking for about an hour he sat down on the forest floor and looked at the sky from between the trees. "I promise," he said out loud. "I'll do whatever I need to do… to save you."

Haku looked around the tree at the young boy on the ground. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I must fight you. You might not be able to keep your promise."

Haku started to walk away when he realized something. 'Maybe I can get Zabuza to give up. I don't feel right about this, not at all.' With that thought he walked off into the night.

With Naruto

Naruto coughed up blood once again. He was completely covered in blood, his own and others, and dirt. The only place that wasn't completely dirty was the who marks under his eyes, from his tears. He was afraid and he was hurting. He wanted to go home.

"Otou-san…" he cried quietly. "Sasuke…"

He tried to get up, but there was no point. He was too weak and just fell back to the ground. "Please… I need you…"

To Be Continued…?

I'm not too sure I'll be continuing this story. I just decided to finish off this chapter so I could post it. Maybe, if I get enough reviews, I'll right another chapter. I'm really busy with my other story, No Place To Call Home. I just post the first chapter today and I'm already on the third chapter so I'm planning on getting really far with that story. Well, place review.


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